Bay City, Mich. - The Ferris State University football team was selected to finish sixth in the 2011 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Football Coaches Preseason North Division Poll, which was released Thursday (Aug. 18) in conjunction with the launch of the GLIAC Football Media Day website.

The Bulldogs received 37 points in the balloting, which was conducted by the conference's 14 head coaches. This year marks the first time the league's preseason gridiron poll has been seperated by divisions.

"We bounced back last year and it was nice to get the program back on track," said FSU head coach Jeff Pierce, who will begin his 17th year at Ferris State this fall and is the program's all-time winningest coach with an 96-80 (.545) career coaching mark. "However, it's a new season and we will have a lot of work to do.

"A majority of our guys are coming back and they're hungry, which is what you have to have to be competitive," he added.

In the North Division, Grand Valley State was picked first with 85 points and 13 first-place votes, Michigan Tech was second with 67 points and one first-place vote, Saginaw Valley State was third with 44 points, Northern Michigan came in fourth with 43 points, Northwood was picked fifth with 38 points followed by Ferris State in sixth with 37 points and the University of Indianapolis, playing in its final season in the GLIAC before heading to the Great Lakes Valley Conference, was seventh with 29 points.

In the South Division, Wayne State was first with 80 points and 10 first-place votes, Ashland took second with 73 points and four first-place votes, Hillsdale was third with 66 points, Ohio Dominican placed fourth with 38 points, Findlay and Lake Erie College were both fifth with 36 points and Tiffin wound up seventh with 13 points.

Heading into the year, Grand Valley State is ranked fifth in American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II 2011 Preseason Top 25 Poll. Wayne State is listed 21st in the poll and Hillsdale is ranked tied for 25th in the nation. That is a snapshot of the strength of the GLIAC on the national level as the start of the 2011 season is just around the corner.

Ferris State kicks off its 103rd season of varsity competition this fall by hosting Hillsdale in a non-conference "Community Day" matchup on Friday, Sept. 2, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. (ET) at Top Taggart Field. FSU and Hillsdale are not scheduled to play each other as part of the GLIAC schedule this season.

The Bulldogs, who will play an 11-game regular-season schedule, open GLIAC action the following week at Saginaw Valley State in their first road contest on Saturday, Sept. 10, at SVSU's Wickes Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET).

Season and single-game tickets for all home games can be purchased in advance thru Star Tickets or the FSU Athletics Ticket Office. Click Here for more information or call (231) 591-2888.

The following is the complete 2011 GLIAC Football Coaches Preseason Poll with first-place votes in parenthesis along with total points.